Senate should follow House on tax bill

The Minnesota House quickly passed a major tax bill on Thursday, one that would provide real relief to Minnesota taxpayers as early as this year.

The bill, which Gov. Mark Dayton said he hopes to sign by March 14, does two major things. First, it would repeal the onerous business-to-business sales taxes that were passed last year, the anti-job taxes that everyone has been agreeing need to be repealed. This should be a no-brainer for the Legislature.

Second, the bill would make Minnesota tax law conform with the federal tax law. This would greatly simplify the task of filing state taxes, and would provide tax breaks for married couples, for working families, for child care and student loan expenses.

The bill would provide about $616 million in tax relief.

The bill now goes to the Senate, where the DFL leaders are interested in putting more of the state’s surplus into the state’s reserve fund and the interest in moving quickly seems to be less avid than in the House.

This is legislation that will undo some bad legislation from last year, and will put money in the pockets of families and middle class taxpayers. Citizens should urge the state’s senators to move quickly in passing this legislation.